Meet the Fellows

Kiva Fellows 26th Class

Alan MathersSt Andrews University, M.A. French and Economics; London Business School M.B.ACamfed, Untu
Zimbabwe

Alan grew up near Belfast, Northern Ireland. He studied French and Economics in Scotland, before taking an M.B.A from London Business School. Alan’s career to date has been in finance and management consulting, focusing on programme management of major business change in U.K. and U.S. banking and consulting organisations. Conscious of the many opportunities he himself benefited from, Alan found it rewarding to also work with not-for-profit organisations in recent years. He served on the board of London-based ‘The Food Chain’, who provide nutritional support to those with HIV, and recently joined the board of ‘The Book Bus’, who aim to improve child literacy in Africa and South America through access to books. In 2014, Alan took a break from life in finance to work with ‘The Ethiopian Education Foundation’, which supports gifted but financially deprived children through education: he acted as student hostel manager, based in Addis Ababa. Through these experiences, Alan was particularly struck by the eagerness and passion with which many in deprived circumstances embrace opportunity. He witnessed how it empowers innovative, hard-working and intelligent individuals to achieve their full potential, whilst maintaining dignity, pride and self-esteem. Passionate about the role microfinance can play in this, Alan is honoured, and delighted, to have the opportunity to work in 2015 with Camfed and Untu, two of Kiva’s partners in Zimbabwe.

Amber StewartJohns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, MA Development EconomicsmyAgro
Mali

In 2012, Amber decided to leave a stable job to return to school full-time. After working in defense, where the focus is often on things that have gone wrong in the world, she desired a more positive, hopeful career. Therefore, at Johns Hopkins-SAIS, Amber focused on the way market access, finance, and innovation transform economies to expand opportunity. She first applied her education during an internship at the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, where she helped small businesses to finance development projects. Since graduation, Amber has worked with a small tech start-up that helps public and private sector organizations leverage data to gain insight for monitoring &amp; evaluation and risk management. She is excited to serve as a Kiva Fellow, viewing it as an important first step in her journey to gain a deep and credible understanding of the challenges facing businesses that work in a developing context. With this knowledge, Amber hopes to lead a career aimed at building a more inclusive global marketplace.

A native of Guinea, Aminatou attended the University of Conakry where she developed an interest in research into the quality of water, a major issue in Guinea that led her to study for a degree in Inorganic Chemistry. Her first job upon graduating was with a non-governmental organization that provided capacity building support and other services to rural women followed by a managerial position in a major freight and logistics company; Distribution International Merchandise (D.I.M s.a). In 1994, she won a World Bank scholarship to enter the Master’s Program in Economic Policy Management (EPM) at McGill University. After completing her studies at McGill, she worked for the United Nations and Women’s World Banking in New York before joining the State of New Jersey in 2002. She has been working here for the past twelve years in different capacities and most recently as an Instructor Counselor with mentally challenged patients. While she has enjoyed her recent assignment, her true passion has always been the empowerment of women through access to finance and other services. Aminatou has always believed that, given access to microfinance, women can break free from the cycle of poverty. She is very excited to embark on this significant role as a Kiva Fellow to pursue her passion helping the poor, particularly women, attain self-sufficiency.

Brian McKeownB.S. Entrepreneurship/Small Business Management San Francisco State University 2001 Kiva Zip
United States

Brian grew up in Orangevale, CA, a citrus grove suburb on the outskirts of Sacramento. He played college baseball at Sierra JC and graduated from SFSU with a BS in Entrepreneurship in the early 2000's. He studied microfinance at the famed Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 2008. Shortly thereafter Brian and his brother Michael and started Yagers 727, LLC whereby they owned and operated a successful bar/nightclub/restaurant in Folsom, CA for two years in 2010 and 2011. He is currently a legislative Ambassador for Earned Assets Resource Network, a working class IDA Savings Organization based in San Francisco, CA.

Born and raised in New Jersey to immigrant parents from the Philippines, Cassandra grew up as a first generation American with the mentality that each person should have an opportunity to improve his or her life. Cassandra's desire for experiencing different cultures was sparked during a semester abroad in Spain. Since then, she has traveled to more than 20 countries and has no intent to stop. She received her BA in Accounting with minors in Spanish and Business Information Systems from Lehigh University. After graduation, she moved to New York City where she began her career in KPMG's Audit Financial Services practice. After an arduous first year, she decided to spend three weeks volunteering at a childcare facility in South Africa serving impoverished children, many of whom lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and violence. This experience propelled her to give back in her local community. She is a “Big Sister” to a child from the Dominican Republic and serves on a Manhattan high school advisory board that aims to help its immigrant student base realize their fullest potential and gain access to higher education. The combination of these life experiences sparked Cassandra’s interest in microfinance and international development. She strongly believes that access to basic financial services can transform the lives of individuals, as well as have a positive impact on the broader community. Cassandra is eager to apply the skills she has learned, along with her intense passion to help others while she works at microfinance institutions in both Ecuador and Peru.

Charles SelestineBachelor of Commerce (Finance) Loyola College, University of Madras, India. Master of Arts in Islamic Banking, Finance and Management University of Gloucestershire, UKHOPE Ukraine
Ukraine

Hailing from eastern Malaysia, Charles has travelled extensively in the course of his studies and work. As a means of understanding and absorbing values from different cultures, he has worked in seven countries and speaks six languages. Most of his career has been within financial services, garnering multi-functional experience in wealth management. Combining his keen interest in social finance and Islamic finance, Charles researched Islamic Microfinance as an investable asset class, as part of his Master’s course. Most recently, Charles served as a Senior Product Manager with the Private Banking division of Barwa Bank, one of four Islamic banks in Qatar. He holds an MA in Islamic Banking Finance and Management from the University of Gloucestershire, and a B Com (Finance) from Loyola College, University of Madras. His wide range of qualifications include certifications in Islamic Finance and Investments.

Born and raised in Greenville, Ohio, Christopher was fortunate to have the opportunity early on to travel internationally. This instilled in him a desire to explore a career that would allow him to positively impact the lives of others around the world and led him to pursue a BA in International Studies at Hope College. Over the course of his time at Hope, Christopher interned with a variety of nonprofit organizations in Guatemala, Jordan, Boston, and Egypt, that focused on the area of international development. Building on these experiences as well as a growing interest in the intersection of business and social impact, Christopher decided to hone his business skills by pursuing a master of accounting degree at UNC Chapel Hill and then heading to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Chicago within its Financial Services Tax group. With an aim to put to use his experience at PwC as well as his past experience in the nonprofit sector, Christopher is excited about the chance to serve as a Kiva Fellow and sees the opportunity as the next step in what he hopes is a long career in the social business sector.

Claire grew up in a small town in Texas. She developed a love for photography at an early age, and her camera has taken her on a life long journey. From the streets of LA to the townships of South Africa, she has used the camera as a means to bring her closer to the world around. She hopes to use her passion for photography and video to showcase the intimacy and isolation of the world we live in as a Media Fellow.

Darcey TindallB.A. in Political Science and International Development, Tulane UniversityPeople's Forum, WSDS
India

Originally from Atlanta, Darcey graduated from Tulane University with a bachelor’s degree in International Development and Political Science. While at Tulane, Darcey had the opportunity to travel throughout South America, including a semester abroad in Chile. She became interested in microfinance in 2011, when she led a group of students on a trip to Nicaragua to meet with entrepreneurs, businesses and nonprofits as part of a greater investigation into various methods of spurring economic development. After graduation, Darcey spent time as a member of AmeriCorps working with the Boys and Girls Club of New Orleans, before becoming a Kiva intern and briefly working as the Kiva Fellows Program Coordinator. After almost a year of sending other great people out on Kiva Fellowships, Darcey is excited to finally have an adventure of her own. She will be serving with WSDS-Initiate and People’s Forum in Eastern India.

Denisse Rodríguez is currently Program Manager at Foundation for Puerto Rico (FPR), where she works on various initiatives that aim to insert Puerto Rico into the global economy. Prior, she was Deputy Fiscal Agent at the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico (GDB) where she designed and executed the implementation of Fiscal Oversight Agreements with the island's major public corporations geared towards overseeing their financial and credit situation. Denisse also served as Advisor to various presidents of the GDB of two different administrations. During her time at GDB, she was named Executive Director of the José M. Berrocal Institute for Economics and Finance, a subsidiary of the GDB whose key purpose is to develop young talent to work for the public sector. Before joining the GDB, Denisse worked at Goldman Sachs' Investment Banking Division in New York City, where she financed and advised not-for-profit health care institutions at the beginning of what is now known as the Great Recession. Denisse obtained a B.A. degree in Finance and Marketing with honors from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus.

As a native New Yorker, Emily is excited to represent Kiva Zip in New York City. After attending Wake Forest University for two years, Emily transferred to Barnard College where she studied Economics. Post graduation, Emily worked at JPMorgan for three and a half years, most recently working as a credit risk analyst covering the Public Finance sector. After reading about Kiva in “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide”, Emily considered the possibilities of implementing these ideas in the U.S. Upon hearing about Kiva Zip, Emily was impressed to learn that safe, affordable access to capital was being provided to those in need in the U.S. and internationally. Through her Kiva Fellowship Program, Emily is looking forward to doing work she is passionate about, applying her strong analytical skills, and further exploring her interest in microfinance.

Erin grew up in California and now lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and 6-year old boxer/lab mix. For the past 10 years she has worked for The Lemelson Foundation, including four years in grants management and, most recently, six years as a Program Officer. Lemelson is a private family foundation that supports the next generation of inventors and invention-based enterprises in order to promote US economic growth and improve lives in developing countries. In her role as Program Officer, Erin managed partnerships focused on developing low-cost technologies that solve global problems and built a portfolio of national and international grants to support the education of young inventors. She has deeply valued working with passionate innovators and social entrepreneurs who are improving the quality of life globally, and looks forward to continuing to work with those who are solving the world’s hardest problems. Erin previously worked in marketing communications and earned an MS in Management Communication from University of Portland and a BA in English from Santa Clara University. She is thrilled to be working as a Kiva Fellow for the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise in Washington, DC and with their partners around the world.

Hector is a Bay Area native and studied at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Over the last seven years he has worked as a corporate banker at Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas, where he analyzed and debt-financed private and publicly traded technology companies. Raised the son of Mexican immigrants, Hector has developed a passion for helping people from under-resourced communities. He has partnered with several local nonprofit organizations as a student/peer mentor and advisor. As a fellow of the KF26 class, Hector is excited about the opportunity to better understand the dynamics of microfinance. He also hopes to improve borrowers’ access to capital, build strong relationships, perfect his Spanish, and learn how to surf.

John DillonB.A. in Broadcast Journalism and Visual Anthropology, San Francsisco State University. M.A. in Documentary Filmmaking, The George Washington UniversityMedia Fellow
El Salvador, Honduras

Raised in California, John is a graduate of The George Washington University, where he completed his MA in Documentary Filmmaking. Since then he has worked for PBS, HBO and on a few independent documentaries as well. His work has taken him overseas, having filmed in Honduras and Afghanistan. He looks forward to heading back to Central America as a Kiva Media Fellow.

Kari is a Bay Area native, but a world traveler at heart. Her most recent travels abroad include a year in Southeast Asia, based in Vietnam. While there, she worked with underserved students, studied Vietnamese and explored microlending with Kiva. Kari returned to San Francisco to intern with Kiva's Community Support to educate fellow Kiva lenders about microfinance. Now Kari is eager to transition to borrower work with innovative Field Partners in Laos and Vietnam and rekindle her love affair with rice noodles.

Karissa NanettaB.S. in Finance and Accounting, University of VirginiaKiva Zip
Kenya

Nanette was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. At age 15, she received a scholarship to attend high school in Singapore. Nanette majored in finance and accounting at University of Virginia. After graduating, she started her career as a management consultant at Ernst & Young and specialized in customer experience. She was moved by her experience living through a riot in Jakarta that stemmed from financial crisis and wealth inequality. Her passion and involvement in microfinance started when she was a member of a microfinance club at UVA. She has also provided pro-bono consulting for a small business through Accion. Most recently, she served as the Indonesia Country Liaison for a P2P microfinance organization, Zidisha, where she helped run the Indonesian microfinance operation. Nanette hopes to use her skills to serve low-income entrepreneurs in Kenya through Kiva Zip!

Raised next to the ocean on the tiny New York island of Long Beach, Katherine has always sought far-flung adventures while somehow managing to wind up at home on the beach during the summer. She studied Sociology and Visual Art at Oberlin College where she developed a great interest in collective organizing as an active member of the Oberlin College Student Cooperative Association. Since graduating, Katherine has explored opportunities in various fields including marketing, design, tech and the nonprofit sector. These varied experiences and a passion for social impact led her down the path of social enterprise, where she worked in marketing and business development at a fair trade retail organization. While visiting artisan cooperatives in South America, she saw first hand the power of income generating projects to create lasting economic growth for marginalized groups. Katherine is excited to return to South America with Kiva to help grow similarly empowering enterprises through microfinance.

Kelly was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. She received a BA in Global Economics and Latin American Studies from UC Santa Cruz, which included studying abroad at Complutense University of Madrid, Spain for one year, and a summer in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Kelly also received a Trans-Global Executive MBA from Saint Mary’s College of California. During the MBA program, Kelly became interested in corporate social responsibility, including the social and environmental benefits and impacts of an organization. Additionally, Kelly co-authored a business plan to promote her client’s sustainability principles across Zanzibar, East Africa in a way that resulted in certain social, cultural, and financial benefits to local communities at the base of the economic pyramid. Kelly has extensive experience in Latin America as an Amigos de las Americas volunteer working on community service projects and focusing on sustainable development while living in Honduras, Paraguay, and The Dominican Republic. Kelly is excited for this opportunity to serve as a Kiva Fellow and participate in collaborative economic development.

You can call him many things, but if you ask family and friends, adventurous is always one of them. Also on this list are idealistic, playful, impulsive and searching. In his heart, Koen has a passion for education, old motorcycles and nature. After graduating as a primary school teacher, Koen left his familiar and comfortable Belgian home to volunteer as a teacher in the Honduran jungle. He was 23, travelling alone and going to a developing country for the first time. He didn’t speak any Spanish and did not know anybody there. He was uncertain and scared when the adventure started, yet he had the best time of his life. After this life-changing experience, Koen was bitten by the travel bug and explored different parts of the world: by motorcycle through Uganda and Rwanda, by train across North America and backpacked in Southeast Asia. In between he teaches or works as an educator, and volunteers his time to Mobile School to help street children throughout the world. This is where he picked up the skill of positive focus, which he’s proud to have set as a base in his life.

Lauren StinsonBachelor of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin, MadisonKiva Zip
United States

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Lauren recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Environmental Studies. Lauren first became interested in community-driven, small business development while interning for the Sweet Water Foundation in Southern India. During her position, Lauren studied the business culture of the local, coastal fishing areas and worked with undergraduate students to build an urban agriculture system at a local college. As a UW-Madison student, Lauren served as the executive director for Slow Food UW, a student organization and nonprofit with a mission to bring equitable, local and clean food to the Madison campus and community. Lauren is passionate about employing her technical and professional business skills to foster community development in the United States and abroad. Lauren is a certified yoga instructor and enjoys sharing her yoga and meditation practices as a vinyasa teacher.

Natalie grew up on a farm in rural Wisconsin and, despite her love for cheese and the Packers, has always had the desire to travel and experience new cultures. While studying abroad in Lima, Peru, Natalie volunteered at a local children’s hospital, participating in activities with children to help them grow physically and emotionally. After graduating from UW-Madison with a BBA and a Masters in Accounting, Natalie moved to NYC and began work with PricewaterhouseCoopers, delivering assurance services to private company clients. While at PwC, Natalie did a rotation with the firm’s Corporate Responsibility group where she helped drive forward PwC’s environmental sustainability initiatives. Natalie also had the opportunity to travel to Belize to teach financial literacy to students in Belize City as part of PwC’s ‘Earn Your Future’ initiative. During her various trips abroad, Natalie has encountered an abundance of incredibly talented, creative, and hard working individuals with big dreams but little money, which has sparked her passion for international development and microfinance. Natalie is incredibly excited and grateful for the opportunity to pursue her passions while supporting Kiva’s mission in Tanzania!

Nelly grew up in Germany and the US, studied in Scotland and has lived and worked in Norway, New York and Singapore. After graduating with a degree in Economics and International Relations from the University of St Andrews, Nelly worked for DNB Bank, primarily in the corporate banking division with a focus on energy finance. After seven years in banking, she has decided to steer her career in a new direction and is pursuing her passion in international development, an interest that took root when she volunteered in Kenya as a student. When Nelly read about the Kiva Fellows Program in the book “The International Bank of Bob”, she was immediately drawn to the idea of setting out on such an assignment. She is curious to learn about the impact of microfinance firsthand and is excited to apply her knowledge and skills in the field when she serves as a Kiva Fellow in the South Pacific.

A Bay Area native, Pavan is passionate about the ability of technology to improve people’s lives. Combining his tech interests with his desire to make a social impact led Pavan to the Kiva Fellows Program where he will be working on Kiva’s direct peer-to-peer micro-lending initiative in Kenya. Pavan attended UCLA and studied Neuroscience. In addition to his studies, he served as a steering director for Dance Marathon, helping raise money and awareness for the fight against Pediatric AIDS. Prior to Kiva, Pavan worked as a management consultant in the healthcare industry for three years at Triage Consulting Group, leading consulting projects for major hospitals and healthcare systems to improve operational efficiency. Pavan is excited to join the Kiva Zip team in Kenya, embrace a new culture, and employ his skills to create positive change for aspiring entrepreneurs and their communities.

Ramona HeimB.S. in Business Administration, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. Master's of Social Science, Copenhagen Business SchoolKiva Zip
United States

Ramona was born in Germany, where she studied and worked in the fields of accounting, finance and sustainability consulting. Driven by her passion to live abroad from an early age, Ramona studied in Australia, Canada, the USA, and just finished her Master’s degree in Organizational Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Having researched the practice of social sustainability in her Master’s thesis, Ramona is convinced that innovation and empowerment are crucial factors for development. Ramona is excited to serve as a fellow for Kiva Zip in the Bay Area and to deepen her interest in microfinance and social entrepreneurship. Her previous volunteering experiences in Brazil and Nepal have taught Ramona the value and joy of empowering small entrepreneurs and she is grateful to experience the mission of microfinance from a new perspective. In her downtime, Ramona loves to explore the continents, study new languages, and to lose her breath outdoor and indoor cycling.

Rasha was born and raised in the USA, but fondly remembers summer vacations spent in Egypt during her youth. Some of those early memories consist not only of sunshine and beautiful beaches, but also playing with poor children and stray kittens in the narrow alleyways of Alexandria. She later studied business at NYU, and worked as a CPA in the financial services industry. However, her humble beginnings served as a reminder that many people are unable to change the circumstances that they are born into, without the benefit of education and opportunity. This idea led Rasha to teach, mentor, and read with underprivileged children in New York as a volunteer, and later to educate and train refugees in New York, Cairo, and Azraq (Jordan). While reading Muhammed Yunus' book ‘Creating a World without Poverty’, Rasha began researching the microcredit industry and discovered Kiva. By joining as a Kiva Fellow, she hopes to help Kiva’s partners to reach the most vulnerable individuals and families, who perhaps haven’t yet had an empowering opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty. Rasha is excited to serve as a Kiva Fellow in Israel in order to see up close how microfinance can make a difference in people's lives.

Growing up in Pakistan, Safia was exposed to the challenges of global inequality at an early age, and often thought about the ways in which she could make a difference. She learned about the intersection of business and poverty alleviation while she was studying International Relations at Tufts University, and was fascinated by the potential to apply her studies in an innovative way. Committed to the broader impact space ever since, she worked for an experiential education social enterprise in Beijing, and then spent two years learning about the impact investing industry more broadly at the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). Safia is excited to learn more about microfinance and mobile payments, and looks forward to joining the Kiva Zip team in Kenya!

Semone (aka Myat Mon Thu) grew up in Southern California, and graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a major in Economics and a minor in Psychology. After college, she began her career in HR and quickly transitioned into Marketing, a field she enjoys for its analytical and creative aspects. Semone has 10+ years of marketing experience in the financial services and technology sectors, and most recently as the VP of Marketing for Stearns Lending, a top national mortgage lender. She learned of Kiva through Stearns’ philanthropist founder and chairman, Glenn Stearns. Semone will be serving as Kiva Fellow in Myanmar. Born in Myanmar, she is excited to be able to give back and reconnect with the country of her birth. In her free time, Semone can often be found sitting in complete stillness practicing Vipassana meditation, or reading up on the field of cognitive science.

Sheryl is thrilled to be participating in Kiva’s fellowship program and expects it to be a highlight of a year long learning sabbatical. After earning her Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics, Sheryl spent several years as an economic consultant, and twelve more as an investment advisor to individuals and businesses. In 2006, she built a practice, which eventually funded over $200 Million of private investment projects. Through her fieldwork, Sheryl looks forward to enhancing her ability to evaluate impact investments. Crossing gorilla tracking or climbing Kilamanjaro off the bucket list will be a major bonus.

Terence grew up in the tiny island-state of Singapore, and grew to embrace a global outlook through his personal and professional travels which have allowed him to journey to more than 35 countries to date. At the University of Illinois, Terence picked up an interest in social entrepreneurship and was first exposed to the concept of microfinance during a trip to the village of Casa Blanca in Ica, Peru in 2008. He believes that an appreciation of other languages and cultures will help build a more open, peaceful and connected world. An entrepreneur at heart, he went on to found the largest language exchange community in Singapore, and wishes to continue using his professional skills in consulting to do good. As a Kiva Fellow, he understands that he is only a small piece of the market-based solution to alleviate poverty, but hopes that the better flow of capital through Kiva and microfinance institutions may go a long way to make the world a better place. Terence currently lives in Austin with his fiancée, Lysia. He is also a budding Capoeirista and passionate minimalist.

After graduating from Fordham University with a B.A. in Political Science and French, Tess decided to book a one-way flight to Asia, volunteering as she traveled. She found that the best way to close the gap between what she saw and the people back home was the share these experiences through writing blogs. Tess saw how local businesses can help improve the lives of the community while preserving their cultural traditions. She described how Cambodian farmers, Vietnamese teachers and Malaysian artists all have similar ambitions to their American counterparts. People everywhere want to succeed and technology helps connect these ambitions. After finishing her travels, Tess joined the Marketing Team at Kiva as an intern, where she focused on the inspiring stories behind each borrower. Behind the amount of the loan is an enriching story about that entrepreneur’s life. By shedding light on these stories to lenders, Tess saw how relatable stories can help drive enterprise. After completing her forthcoming fellowship in Zimbabwe and South Africa, Tess hopes to continue a development and content driven career in social enterprise.

Vinayak ReddyBachelor of Business Administration and Master of Professional Accounting, University of Texas at AustinKiva Zip
Kenya

For the past two years Vinay worked at a small consulting firm as a process and data analyst. He lives full-time in Houston, and though his job, has traveled to many cities in Texas. He is looking to switch directions in his career, and thinks being a fellow will be a great segue into his next move. Vinayak loves talking to people and working with others, so he is very excited about getting away from the computer screen and into the field.

Willa StockwellB.A. in International Relations, Wheaton CollegeKiva Zip
United States

Willa grew up in Keene, New Hampshire and continued to earn her BA in International Relations at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. She has since spent her time working on various political campaigns in Colorado and has spent the past year of her life working for a small NGO in Washington DC, dedicated towards helping entrepreneurs navigate local legal systems in developing countries. She has worked closely with entrepreneurs throughout the world to help to reduce barriers to market entry and is excited to work with Kiva to connect small business owners with new financial solutions. Willa has a particular interest in helping communities join together to create positive social change and is looking forward to helping her current community of Washington, DC. In her spare time Willa likes to find outdoor adventures, spend time with friends, travel and ski.

Wui Wui YuB.A. in English Language Studies, University Science Malaysia. MSc in Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems, London School of Economics and Political ScienceBai Tushum, Credo
Georgia, Kyrgyzstan

Wui Wui comes from Malaysia and is a communications professional with experiences in the private and nonprofit sectors. She was recently a consultant at a humanitarian and relief organisation, and had also worked in a software company, covering the Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific regions. She has keen interests in how technology shapes society and drives social innovation in developing countries, especially in opening new possibilities for financial inclusion. So, she’s thrilled at the opportunity to learn Kiva’s lending model and work with its partners in Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. Wui Wui studied Systems Design and International Development in post-graduate school, and specialised in English Language Studies in her undergraduate degree.

Kiva Fellows 25th Class

Born and raised in the sunny city-state of Singapore, Amanda graduated from Singapore Management University with a Bachelor in Business Management in 2013. For the past year, she worked as a Marketing Analyst for an online financial firm in Chicago. Amanda has experiences working in the SEA, USA, and UK markets. She has an interest in human-centered design and social businesses and strongly believes in education for all and economic empowerment of women as a catalyst for social change. She has always actively volunteered her time in whichever communities she is in, such as being in the student associations and volunteering in Chicago+Acumen. Amanda also prides herself as a world traveler and has the privilege to live in China, Taiwan, Sweden, USA and Brazil for purposes ranging from school, work and community services. Her passion for living sprouts from the love given to her from her supportive family and close circle of friends. "Don't be evil" (coincidentally from Google) is the value that her parents have imparted to her since young. Amanda's life goal is to be a social entrepreneur and more simply, to be a passionate member of the world. Thus, Amanda is very excited to be chosen as a Kiva fellow and feel inspired to contribute to the world of microfinance.

Annie grew up in Singapore and Japan before moving to the U.S. to attend Pomona College in Claremont, California. At Pomona, she studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. During college, she worked on a congressional campaign, helped rally support for the DREAM Act, and held internships at a women’s economic empowerment nonprofit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., and at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium. After graduating, she worked at a startup in San Francisco before accepting a fellowship with New Sector Alliance to work on a research study examining the state of philanthropy in the tech sector. Annie will be working with Kiva in Kosovo and Albania, and is very excited to be able to work directly with Kiva’s enterprising borrowers. Annie loves to run, draw things, and go places she’s never been before.

Arielle grew up in Camarillo, CA and attended the University of California, Irvine where she received a Bachelor's of Arts in Literary Journalism. After writing about important, often overlooked issues for journalism classes and various media outlets, Arielle decided she wanted to take an active role in problem solving for the communities that she loved to write about. She recently worked with community economic development programs-from health policy, to youth development and cultural arts - in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles. She developed a passion for creating solutions to community issues and is currently exploring the social enterprise sphere. Arielle loves the arts - photography, video, music -, and plans to pursue journalism and arts while working with social impact/development organizations. Ultimately, she wants to fuse her unique perspectives and passions to solve problems and create connectedness within society. Arielle is excited for this opportunity with Kiva to learn new perspectives for solving problems.

Bas grew up in The Netherlands and graduated with a degree in European Studies from The Hague University. He has lived in New Zealand, Spain and Belgium, travelled around the globe and volunteered with projects in India, Cameroon and Latin America. Currently, Bas lives in Brussels and works for Triodos Bank, one of the world's leading sustainable banks with a mission to make money work for positive social, environmental and cultural change. He is convinced that microfinance functions as a positive tool for development by stimulating entrepreneurship. Microfinance enables people to improve their lives by financing their own initiated projects. He has always had an interest in development cooperation and sustainable development, even writing his final thesis about ‘sustainable development cooperation’. He is curious to find out how microfinance contributes to sustainable development. He is very excited to be a Kiva Fellow and have the opportunity to use his skills and knowledge in the field to contribute to Kiva’s mission.

Caroline grew up outside Boston and first discovered her love of travel during college when she set off on a backpacking trip to Central America. Since then, she has spent time abroad volunteering with start-up entrepreneurs in Guatemala and teaching computer skills to children in Ghana. Through these experiences, Caroline cultivated an interest in international development and a belief in the power of small businesses to impact local communities. After graduating from UMass Amherst with a degree in Management and Economics, Caroline began work in PricewaterhouseCooper’s Risk Assurance practice, delivering assurance services to financial services clients in the Boston area. During her time at PwC, Caroline did a rotation in PwC’s Corporate Responsibility department to expand the firm’s Corporate Responsibility initiatives which included teaching financial literacy in schools throughout the greater Boston area. Caroline is excited to apply her knowledge of financial services while assisting Kiva’s Field Partners in Indonesia and East Timor!

Chelsea DyerButler University, BS in Marketing and BA in SpanishKiva Zip
United States

Chelsea was born and raised in St. Louis, MO where she spent her childhood playing lots of soccer and climbing too many trees. Her passion for microfinance began years ago with a copy of Banker to the Poor and a subsequent 2500-mile trek to southern Belize to co- establish a small microlending group. She has a BS in Marketing and a BA in Spanish from Butler University, another one of those Midwestern towns with a penchant for championship basketball. After graduation, she moved to Dallas through Teach For America where she taught third graders about solar systems, multiplication, and entrepreneurship. Two years of seeing the potential of malleable young minds (and eating a substantial number of pupusas en route) led Chelsea to her current course of study at Washington University in St. Louis. She’s currently halfway through pursuing an MSW in Social and Economic Development. Thus far, she’s been lucky to spend six months at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis learning about the intricacies of community development on a macro scale. She cannot wait to take her academic training, professional development, and personal curiosity to help make St. Louis a stronger destination for Kiva Zip loans.

Dani FolksUniversity of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Masters of Public Service Kiva Zip
United States

Dani is a Master of Public Service Candidate at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, specializing in social enterprise and economic development. She has professional experience in homeless services, SNAP benefit outreach, and social enterprise creation. A graduate of Texas Christian University with degrees in anthropology and social work, Dani also served as a student diplomat in Swaziland and South Africa and was president of TCU’s Amnesty International. In her time at the Clinton School of Public Service, Dani has gained experience in entrepreneurial support structures, program creation and management, and international economic development. She will be working as a Kiva Fellow to expand and strengthen the Kiva Zip pilot program throughout Arkansas.

Elizabeth is a Pacific Northwest native. She was born and raised in Washington's small wine country in Woodinville. She received her undergraduate degree from Western Washington University in Humanities and Social Psychology. Currently she is pursuing her MBA and is about mid-way through the program. The majority of her work experience is with small non-profit organizations in the Pacific Northwest, and she most recently worked in Financial Counseling office for University of Washington Medical Center. She has one little crazy cat named Bagheera who she will greatly miss, but she is excited to join KF25 and begin her fellowship in NYC.

Born in the U.K, and raised in South Africa and France, Emmanuel was exposed young to multicultural environments thanks to parents that transmitted him the travel Bug. Living in post-apartheid South Africa and travelling in developing countries was a mind opener and convinced Emmanuel that businesses should strive to have a positive impact on society. Emmanuel has a great interest in entrepreneurship and graduated from a BBA at ESSEC Business school. In 2014, he studied and worked in Guadalajara, Mexico for a year where he had the opportunity to work with local entrepreneur in a social incubator. This experience helped him understand the different struggles of small-scale entrepreneurs in developing and emerging countries. Emmanuel discovered Kiva while writing his bachelors thesis on microcredit. By joining Kiva Zip, he hopes to contribute to the development of Kiva as well as direct microfinance and entrepreneurship in Kenya in order to reduce poverty. This will also be a first step of a hopefully long career in the microfinance and social business sector.

Gabriel MekbibCarleton College, BA Political Science/International RelationsKiva Zip
United States

Gabriel spent his early youth growing up cross-culturally in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Lusaka, Zambia; Manchester, England; Lilongwe, Malawi; Madaba, Jordan, before finishing high school in Beijing, China. He recently graduated from Carleton College with a B.A in International Relations/Political Science. At Carleton, Gabriel served as treasurer and then co-chair of the African students association and also worked as Program Director for Books for Africa, a Minnesota based shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent. Spending the majority of his life in developing economies, Gabriel has always been drawn to international development and was fortunate to witness the birth of a new nation while living in Aweil, South Sudan. His most recent internship with the German Society for International Cooperation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia enabled him to investigate the feasibility of bio-gas for cooking fuel at various Ethiopian universities. Gabriel is humbled to be part of the Kiva Zip team and is incredibly excited to begin working as a Kiva Zip Fellow in Milwaukee, WI. He hopes the exceptional opportunity will provide him with an insight on the successes and struggles of small businesses in the U.S. In his free time, Gabriel enjoys reading, playing soccer, and travelling.

Although Ignacio believes that he comes from the best place on earth, Bilbao, due to the food, landscape, and Athletic Club, the world is too big to get stuck forever in one place and there is not enough time to see everything. Ignacio attended Duesto University in Bilbao, Spain, where he received a Bachelors degree in Business Administration and a Masters degree in Management Development and Computer Systems After finishing university, one thing was clear to him: he wanted to work abroad, travel and meet incredible people. To that end, Ignacio has lived and worked in the Netherlands, Egypt, Peru and traveled in Ethiopia. Thanks to these experiences, he has grown conscious of how many people work on helping others and how this help is the most gratifying work one can do. Ignacio is excited to serve as a Kiva Fellow in Nicaragua.

Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Ines has long had a passion for traveling and exploring. During her last year of high school she served as a community work volunteer in an isolated community in the mountains of Puebla, Mexico. This wonderfully challenging and enriching experience triggered a now deep-seated desire to learn from other cultures and lifestyles. Ines then decided to take a gap year in China, working as a teacher assistant in a primary school in Beijing, followed by a few months of backpacking through Asia and Europe. Through such experiences, she gained a lot of cultural sensitivity and awareness of the need for social commitment in all its forms, and realized that a fundamental understanding of a variety of disciplines would be instrumental in making a positive impact in the world. As such, she decided to opt for an Honors Bachelor’s degree in International Business Management at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, which included an exchange year in Australia. Ines has been a Kiva lender for years now and, having recently graduated, she is very keen on embarking on an adventure where not only can she put her skills to good use, but do so whilst working together with Kiva and One Acre Fund (Kenya) in such inspiring and impactful projects.

Krittika KaewmamuangMälardalens University, Masters of International Business and EntrepreneurshipProximity Designs
Myanmar

Krittika was born in Chiang Rai, Thailand where she developed her interests in social development through King’s Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. Following her passion, Krittika spent 5 years working at ChangeFusion, a Bangkok-based non-profit organization where she was able to work with many social entrepreneurs. She had the opportunity to lead and manage the development of several social enterprise initiatives such as policy support, incubation programs and corporate partnership. Most recently, she was a coordinator for Global Social Entrepreneurship Network, UnLtd UK, where she was responsible for communication and event organization. Working with social enterprise supporting organisations around the world helped her realize that opportunity and access to capital are the key factors for entrepreneurs to grow. Her passion for social impact and supporting entrepreneurs to achieving their goals led her to take on Kiva Fellowship. Krittika is also passionate about travelling and is always eager for new cultures and experiences. She is excited and thrilled to relocate to Yangon, Myanmar where she will be able to support Kiva’s mission to alleviate poverty through micro-lending and employ her skills to create positive change. Krittika spends her free time reading, cooking, running, practicing yoga, and rock climbing.

Kunal's interests in economic development, cultural exchange, and egalitarianism led him to the Kiva Fellows program, where he is working on advanced growth and impact models for Kiva Zip Kenya.

Prior to Kiva, Kunal's career focused on the intersection of operations and technology through consulting, sales, and operational roles at Citrix and Google. He also co-founded a clean energy non-profit operating in rural Mexico (wrone.org) and led consulting projects for Full Circle Fund and Google.org grant partners, including the Not For Sale Campaign and OneDegree.

Kunal is passionate about using economic opportunity as a strategy to advance human rights and minimize radicalization.

Mary HalderLondon School of Economics, MSc in Comparative PoliticsKiva Zip
United States

Mary Jo grew up in small town Iowa, surrounded by the state’s lively political climate. She turned her interest in this area into a BA in Political Science at the University of Northern Iowa, where she had the chance to intern with the Embassy of Mexico in Washington DC and travel to Nicaragua for a service learning class. There she visited an MFI and some of its borrowers, opening her eyes to the world of microfinance and the many benefits it can provide to borrowers, their families, and their communities. Mary Jo later received an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and interned with the National Education Trust while in London. Combining her love of education and international politics, she returned to the University of Northern Iowa to teach political science courses. She has enjoyed sharing her experiences and helping students understand and think critically about pressing world issues, something she hopes to continue and build upon through this fellowship and an eventual PhD. Mary Jo looks forward to contributing to Kiva Zip’s ongoing work in Washington DC and helping educate others about microfinance.

Nadia grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, a city she loves for many reasons, including that driving from one end to the other takes just 25 minutes. While attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Nadia earned her BA in International Studies with concentrations in Business Management and Middle Eastern Studies. When she was a student, she studied Arabic abroad in the occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan, and at the Critical Language Scholarship's institute in Rabat, Morocco. She also spent time studying politics, religion, and economics in Turkey. During her travels, she was inspired by entrepreneurs who managed to create opportunity out of nothing, like a woman she met selling flowers on a street in Rabat's old city. Instead of begging alongside Morocco's large homeless population, this woman took control of her own destiny and runs her own business. Nadia would like to help others do the same. After graduating from UNO, Nadia began managing accounts receivable for a Halal certifier in the US which approves meat and poultry producers to export to the Middle East. She looks forward to shifting her focus to empowering individuals during her Kiva Fellowship. After her fellowship, she plans to pursue a master’s degree. In her downtime, she is an avid runner, reader, and country line dancer.

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." Muhammad Ali’s words motivates Niaz to move pass lip service and act. Niaz left his hometown Dhaka to pursue higher education in the USA. After graduating, working at Ernst & Young, experiencing a roller coaster of life events in America - he returned home; started teaching Strategy & Entrepreneurship at North South University, and subsequently at BRAC University. He also co-founded a social enterprise.

Niaz aspires to be a global citizen. He has traveled to over 35 countries in 5 continents. He served as a Tourism Ambassador for the Government of Bangladesh from 2011-2013. Niaz is a proud mustang from Southwest Minnesota State University. He graduated magna cum laude with a double major in Computer Science and Business. In college, he was elected a Student Senator, Residential Advisor, Tutor and Cultural Diversity Rep for the State of Minnesota. As a Lyon County Red Cross leader, Niaz volunteered in New Orleans for over a month during Hurricane Katrina Relief Work. In Bangladesh, he mentors a number of Social Enterprises. Outside of teaching & volunteering, his passion lies in running, mountain climbing and raising his one-year-old son, Neil.

As the first Bangladeshi Kiva Fellow, Niaz is excited to contribute meaningfully for the betterment of the kiva borrowers and field partners. Eventually, Niaz seeks to be a catalyzer to the new-wave of crowd-funding in his native country and bring Kiva to Bangladesh.

Noura grew up in Tennessee but spent summers with her family in Syria. From an early age, she realized that wherever people are from, their similarities far outweigh their differences. With this in mind, she spent many years working with media outlets to promote understanding between cultures, especially in the United States and Middle East. She is also committed to empowering vulnerable populations, firmly believing that all individuals should have the opportunity to reach their potential and contribute to society. After graduating from the George Washington University, she grew more aware of the importance of social impact initiatives in poverty alleviation. While working at a firm exclusively for nonprofits, she noticed that the most successful clients utilized creative financial models to accomplish transformational impact. This realization led her to Ashoka’s Social Financial Services team where she works daily to analyze the work of social entrepreneurs innovatively using market forces to create systems change. She is an advocate of Ashoka’s mission to create an Everyone A Changemaker World and believes Kiva is a strong player in this goal. She is incredibly excited and humbled to serve as a Kiva Fellow in Lebanon!

Pete BenedettoUniversity of Michigan, BA PhilosophyKiva Zip
United States

Peter’s interest in social innovation began while working with the marketing team at the Social Venture Fund at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. After graduating with a BA in Philosophy, Peter moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland where he helped run a youth program that focused on community reconciliation efforts. He then spent a year in the Philippines working with the Gawad Kalinga Center for Social Innovation, a social enterprise incubator focused on creating sustainable Filipino brands. After moving back to the US, Peter began working in real estate finance with a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway - Berkadia Commercial Mortgage in Southfield, MI. He is currently working for Michigan Corps, a noprofit based in Detroit, MI whose efforts center around engaging residents in the state's economic transformation, specifically through social enterprise development and microfinance.

Prakriti grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal and moved to the United States to pursue undergraduate studies at Carleton College. At Carleton, she enjoyed immersing herself in Economics and learning her fourth language, French. She also spent a summer in Tanzania as a mentor to a group of HIV-positive women helping them perform market analysis and secure loans for their handicraft business. Since graduation, she has been working at Ernst & Young as a Senior Associate advising on financial and reporting issues for clients in the technology and life science industries. Prakriti is excited to return to East Africa as a Kiva Zip fellow and work with other entrepreneurs.

Rashmi KhareTuck School of Business at Dartmouth, MBAAccion East
United States

Raised in New Jersey, Rashmi earned a BS in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001 and headed right into a career in asset management. She spent over ten years as a bond trader with Fidelity Investments, trading a wide range of products. After reading “Creating a World Without Poverty” by Muhammad Yunus, she decided to pursue a career that melded her financial skills with social impact. To help with this transition, she earned a MBA from the Tuck School of Business in 2014. While at Tuck, she had both US and international experiences with economic development through impact investing, including sea cucumber harvesting in Madagascar. Her most recent travel was a month through southern India, getting blessed by as many temple elephants as she could find. Rashmi is excited to work with Accion East as a Kiva Fellow and looking forward to exploring New York City. Outside of work, Rashmi enjoys baking, cooking, and getting through her Hindi lessons.

Sarah RenferGraduate Institute of International and Development Studies, MA International RelationsFundacion Paraguaya
Paraguay

Sarah was born and raised on an organic farm in Switzerland, and quickly embraced a global outlook when completing her degree in international relations at the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva. She honed her entrepreneurial and leadership skills in AIESEC - the global youth network impacting the world through leadership development experiences. Working with companies while leading the activities of her local chapter and organizing a national conference on the topic of Corporate Responsibility showed her the impact responsible business practices can have on society and the environment. Most recently, Sarah used her ability to communicate with diverse audiences and to manage complex programs to develop Apple’s business in Swiss schools. Enhancing teaching and learning through technology has become a new passion for her. She now wants to add to her business experience and international relations background by learning more about microfinance as an efficient tool for poverty reduction. Having lived in India and Spain for several months at a time, she loves interacting with diverse cultures and discovering local delicacies. To do so she uses her fluent German, English, French and Spanish, as well as a few words of Mandarin Chinese that she picked up during a 6-week sabbatical to study the language in Shanghai in 2012. Her next challenge will be learning enough Guaraní, to be able to better buy some chipa in Paraguay.

As a native Californian, Sarah is excited to represent Kiva in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sarah recently graduated from Stanford University in June 2014, with a B.S. in management, science, and engineering with a focus in organization, technology, and entrepreneurship. While at school, Sarah developed an interest in the role of innovation in developing optimal solutions in the nonprofit sector, particularly on a global scale. Through her fellowship, Sarah hopes to utilize her passion for social entrepreneurship while working directly with communities in the Bay Area to promote the Kiva Zip initiative. She is excited about the prospect of facilitating a direct link between lenders and entrepreneurs. Sarah loves to travel and studied abroad in both Spain and India during university. Her other interests mainly revolve around food and outdoor adventures. She plans to eventually return to school in order to pursue a Masters in Public Policy.

Shannon was born and raised in California with a youth spent in Roseville, college years lived in Los Angeles and adult life continuing to blossom in San Francisco. She has a double major in Accounting and Business Law, her CPA (though inactive) in California, experience serving on the Suicide Prevention Hotline and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate in San Francisco, and is about to conclude almost three years working as a recruiter for accounting and finance professionals in the Bay Area. Shannon’s international experience ranges from studying abroad in Madrid, to serving in the Peace Corps in Honduras, to traveling to a new location every two years for pleasure with her mother. Her passion is service, and she therefore cannot tell you how stoked she is to be serving as a Fellow for an organization that promotes what she has experienced to be the most sustainable development activity abroad: microfinance.

Born and raised in the Isle of Man and with degrees in Business and French and experience in teaching, outdoor education, service learning and community development, Susan’s path ultimately led her to the door of microfinance. She is an energetic self starter with strong integrity and a dedication to human development and community service whilst maintaining high professional and personal standards. She has travelled to over 35 countries for work, pleasure and volunteering and is excited to be heading back to Africa to be the very first Fellow in Malawi. She is looking forward to being able to mesh her professional and personal experiences to help expand Kiva operations with two local MFI's and experiencing up close and personal how microfinance can make a difference in people's lives.

Tony was raised in the NY metropolitan area and is a graduate of Rutgers University. He began his IT career in Atlanta where he also completed his MBA at Georgia Tech. An avid traveler, he is passionate about experiencing a wide variety of cultures and has a keen eye for exploration and adventure. Lending on Kiva was a tremendously powerful way to stay connected to the countries he visited. Serving as a Kiva Fellow is a natural extension of his commitment to make a positive impact around the world.

Trista LiCase Western Reserve University, BA Economics and PsychologyKiva Zip
United States

Trista believes that the process of mastering other languages has given her a chance to rediscover her curiosity and offered her a new perspective on life. Originally from Shanghai, Trista has taken journeys across the United States, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. She considers Cleveland her second home and has adapted the midwest hospitality into her vibrant personality. An entrepreneur at heart, Trista is driven to a career in social enterprise after building a portfolio of skills from her experience in journalism, management consulting, healthcare marketing, and manufacturing supply management. With the Kiva Zip Fellowship, she hopes to work towards helping other people realize their dreams and become economically empowered. Trista holds a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from Case Western Reserve University. She is also an international ballroom dancer, a licensed ukulele street performer, a recently verified yoga instructor and a marathon runner.

Born in Pakistan and raised outside of Seattle, Vardah graduated with a B.S. in Biology from the University of Washington. Taking time to travel to Central America, Europe and part of Northern Africa, Vardah is excited to continue exploring different places and cultures. Growing keen to contribute to poverty alleviation, she learned that empowering people to help themselves by equipping them with skills and providing tools, such as financial assistance, is an effective and sustainable approach to tackling poverty. Having first heard of Kiva while reading Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Vardah began participating as a Kiva lender. Eager to take on a greater role to help with Kiva's mission and to fulfill her desire to continue traveling, she is excited to participate as a Kiva Fellow.

Vianna PhillipsMcMaster University, BS in Mechanical Engineering and ManagementKiva Zip
United States

Vianna is a Canadian Management Consultant who has been working in Toronto for about three years. While studying Mechanical Engineering and Business, Vianna got involved in many volunteer opportunities throughout Canada, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. It was through these experiences that she came to enjoy learning from other communities and looking for ways that she can help enable them to achieve their goals. Seeing how effectively small businesses can empower their communities drew her to getting involved with Kiva. She is now looking forward to joining the Kiva Zip team and spending the next several months working directly with communities in Portland.

Vince is 53 and originates from Aberdeen in the North East of Scotland, though he has not lived there for the past 15 years. He recently retired after having worked for a large multi-national energy company in various IT roles for the past 25 years. The job allowed Vince to travel the world and feed his appetite for working with people from different backgrounds and cultures. Vince is a huge fan of Kiva and for a long time has held the ambition of taking on a volunteer role overseas, Vince is honored to serve as a fellow with Kiva’s partners in Azerbaijan.

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, MIA; Hochschule St. Gallen, M.A. in Finance; Recanati School, Tel Aviv University, Exchange Semester; New York University, Certificate in Grantmaking (in progress)

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, MIA; Hochschule St. Gallen, M.A. in Finance; Recanati School, Tel Aviv University, Exchange Semester; New York University, Certificate in Grantmaking (in progress)